Bass, snook and snapper are in spring mode on Treasure Coast waters

Too soon? Yes, it is. Unfortunately, grouper season does not open for harvest in waters of the Atlantic until May 1. These customers of Fins sport fishing charters out of Fort Pierce City Marina fished with Capt. Rich Kluglein and had a nice catch and then release of this gag grouper this weekend.(Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY RICH KLUGLEIN)

Indian River County

Capt. Rick Marchetti, of Surf Rider charters out of Mulligan's in Sebastian, steered his anglers Monday to a day that he could only describe as, "Wow." His anglers had 41 snapper in the fish box including large mutton snapper and 10- to 12-pound mangrove snapper. Marchetti said the water looked great in 80, 90 and 100 feet, so all reefs produced good catches.

Cobia have been slow to show up this spring, but kingfish are being caught, too. Inshore, the snook fishing is good in many inshore spots on jigs at night or live bait during the day. Outgoing tide has been more productive. Freshwater bowfishermen are finding good hunting.

Jay Davey, of Vero Beach, used a recurve bow over the weekend to shoot a 9.3-pound blue tilapia at Garcia Reservoir. The tilapia is only a couple of ounces off the IGFA All Tackle World Record, although it was taken by bow and not rod and reel.

St. Lucie County

Capt. Mark Dravo, of Y-B Normal charters in Fort Pierce, has been steering customers to steady spring catches of inshore targets like trout, snook, jacks and redfish. Friday, Mark Coomber and Doug Blanchard, of Stuart, caught and released 10 snook and nine jack crevalles fishing the area between the two bridges. His anglers have also caught and released trout to 15 pounds.

The best bites are coming on live pilchards and greenies. The peak of the tidal movement has typically been when the bite has been best around mangrove points, channel edges and seawalls.

Offshore, Capt. Rich Kluglein of Fins sport fishing charters out of Fort Pierce City Marina steered his anglers to catches of kingfish, barracuda and some catch and release gag grouper on the Northeast Grounds while trolling spoons on a planer. Recent catches include good snapper fishing and occasional cobia, too.

Martin County

Capt. Rocky Carbia of Safari 1 party boat out of Pirates Cove Resort and Marina in Port Salerno said the weekend provided great fishing for his customers who hauled in snapper and cobia. The reefs in 60 to 75 feet of water are producing solid catches of lane snapper, along with mangrove snapper, mutton snapper, kingfish, cobia, blue runners, bluefish and sharks.

Inshore, anglers fishing the Indian River Lagoon are finding a good snook bite around structure like docks and bridge pilings, tripletail and pompano along the edges of the channel. The surf has been too stirred up for productive fishing, but that should improve this week.

Lake Okeechobee

Observation Shoal is a 3-mile-long edge of water and vegetation, which is harboring hungry bass right now. The full moon this week has bass on the beds, but easterly winds have some of the water stirred up. Shiners will catch the best numbers of bass including the best chance at a big one, but anglers seeking to fish artificial lures will find punching mats and flipping to be the best way to generate bites from bass waiting in ambush. Speckled perch fishing has been best in the Rim Canal at Taylor Creek, at Harney Pond Canal and along the edges of the Kissimmee River.

Editor's note: The fishing report in print and online editions of TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers now runs on Tuesday and Friday. Send fishing reports and photos to Ed Killer at ed.killer@tcpalm.com and follow him on social media at @tcpalmekiller on Twitter and Instagram, or Ed Killer on Facebook.